1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention relates to trays for holding both food and beverage at social gatherings. More specifically, the invention relates to a tray for holding portions of food as well as a beverage glass at social gatherings, where the beverage glass held may be a stemware glass.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has long been a need for a tray for use at social gatherings which can be used by a participant at the gathering for carrying morsels of food such as hors d'oeuvres along with a container of a beverage, where the beverage might optionally be in a conventional tumbler style glass or in a piece of stemware. Some of the characteristics of a highly desirable such tray are as follows.
A tray for the use cited above should be capable of being manufactured at low cost, should offer the option of manufacturing by more than one process, and should be designed to allow nesting when stacked to maximize the number of packages of such trays which can be placed in a given amount of shelf space in a retail store. The tray should be capable of holding food such as an hors d'oeuvre in one area of the tray while holding a beverage container in a separate area of the tray. This arrangement will allow a user to carry both food and beverage with one hand while walking about at a social gathering, freeing a hand for social interaction such as shaking hands and making gestures. Preferably, the tray should also be of a configuration which will allow a stemware beverage container with a high center of gravity when filled to be securely and stably carried on the tray. Also, the tray should still accommodate the stemware container when the tray is placed on a table during the addition of food to the tray. But, the tray should be of a configuration which will also accommodate a cup or tumbler of beverage. Also, a preferred tray will have at least one feature in its shape which will allow a user to discern the orientation of the tray easily by feel, without having to interrupt social interaction to look at the tray.
One attempt to provide a tray with these desired characteristics was disclosed by French in U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,685. French disclosed a tray with a flat recessed portion for holding food, and a slotted portion disposed at the periphery of the tray for holding a stemmed glass. The tray of French has the slotted portion for holding a stemmed glass configured as an extension of a raised lip of the tray, extending outwardly from the tray. When this tray is placed on a flat surface such as a table, the foot of a stemmed glass will be accommodated under the slotted portion. However, if a beverage container such as a cup or tumbler is placed on the slotted portion, the tray would tend to tip from the weight of the beverage. Also, a tumbler or cup would not be securely held in place on the smooth upper surface of the slotted portion while the user walks about at a social gathering. A beverage container of these types would not be stable when carried and could easily slide from the tray in accordance with the French disclosure.
Another attempt to satisfy the need for this type of tray was disclosed by Stevens in U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,758. The tray according to Stevens has two distinct portions defined by vertical walls: a portion for holding food and a portion for holding a beverage container. The tray of Stevens was disclosed as having a slot extending from the interior of the beverage portion, through the vertical wall of this portion, to the exterior. The slot allows a stemmed beverage container to be accommodated by the beverage portion with the bowl of the container held within the beverage portion and the stem and foot suspended below the tray. The Stevens tray also has bottom ridges molded onto the underside of its structure to allow the tray to be stacked. The tray according to Stevens as shown therein cannot be nested however. One of these trays can be placed upon another identical tray in a stacked arrangement for storing by the user or on a retail store shelf. The tray as disclosed does not nest though. A stack of n number of these trays will have a total height which is equal to n times the height of one tray, plus the height of a bottom ridge. The tray disclosed by Stevens is not suited for efficient storage then.
Also, the tray according to Stevens by virtue of its shape and especially because of the bottom ridge needed for its being able to stack, is suited for manufacturing by injection molding. Such a tray would not be well suited for manufacturing by a thermoforming or a compression molding process however.
Powell has disclosed yet another tray in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,742 with some desired characteristics. The tray apparatus of this disclosure comprises a base tray having two compartments separated by a hand hold portion. One compartment is intended for holding a beverage container such as a cup with handle or a tumbler. The second compartment is intended for holding food directly or for holding a food containing receptacle such as a plate. The base tray of the Powell tray apparatus is adapted for securely engaging the beverage container used or the food receptacle used by locking means. The tray apparatus of the Powell disclosure is not suited for holding a stemmed beverage container stably near the container's center of gravity however, lacking any slot as provided in the French or Stevens disclosures. Also, the complicated shape of the Powell tray apparatus comprises undercuts which would be disadvantageous for inexpensive manufacturing.
A fourth tray configuration has been disclosed by Russeau in U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,455. In this configuration a plate is provided with a center portion for holding food and an outer periphery having a notch therethrough leading to an aperture for holding a stemmed glass. The aperture is surrounded by a raised rim that is coplanar with the upper edge of the periphery and also surrounded by a lower lip coplanar with the center portion. A base foot element is provided under the central portion for elevating the lip for accommodating the foot of a piece of stemware when the tray of this disclosure is being held on a flat surface. The tray of this disclosure has among its disadvantages the raised rim surrounding the aperture for the stemmed beverage container. This raised rim makes the disclosed tray poorly suited for stably carrying a cup or tumbler type of beverage container. These types of containers would have a tendency to slide from the raised rim into the food holding center portion. Another problem with the tray of this disclosure is that the provision of the base foot element and the complicated shape of the raised rim element surrounding the aperture would make the mold for manufacturing a tray of this configuration less desirable.
Brown in U.S. Design Pat. No. 398,481 has disclosed yet another configuration for a tray intended for satisfying some of the needs outlined above. The tray in this disclosure comprises a food holding portion and a beverage holding portion. The beverage holding portion has a slot provided for allowing a handle of a cup or mug to be accommodated, or for holding a stemmed glass in suspension from the tray. Deep recessed areas are also provided in the food holding portion which appear to have utility in holding the tray. However, the tray of this design has such deep recesses that more material would be needed for its manufacture than is necessary for satisfying the objects of the present invention. It appears that the tray of Brown was intended for holding a plate of food rather than directly holding food. The tray of the present invention overcomes the problems of the disclosed trays discussed above and satisfies these objects as outlined hereinbelow.